This year, on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, I found myself traveling to the island where it all took place.

I was there as part of a film crew to help tell a remarkable story related to that World War II event for the national PBS series, "Family Ingredients." Little did I know that I would uncover another story, that of my own family member lost in the battle.

Junichi Nakasone was my father’s brother, the uncle I’d never met. He and his sister, Yoshino, left Hawaii for Okinawa with my great-grandfather in 1930. He was 3 and she was 5 when they said goodbye to their parents, siblings and the place they called home.

When Junichi was 18 and about to graduate from high school, the Japanese Imperial Army started mobilizing students in preparation for war. Students were allowed to return home to say their farewells, so Junichi went home and took his grandparents and sister to relative safety in a mountain cave. He then returned to school to receive his diploma and join his classmates in what was called the Iron Blood Corps for the Emperor.

On March 27, 1945, the graduation ceremony was held. On April 1, 1945, the first guns were fired in the Battle of Okinawa. There were more ships used, more troops put ashore, more bombs dropped and more naval guns fired than any other operation in the Pacific.

Junichi never came home after the guns fell silent 82 days later. Ironically, Uncle Junichi was an American citizen born in Hawaii. As it did to many Japanese-American families, World War II in the Pacific split my family on opposite sides of the ocean.

Our family back in Hawaii presumed Junichi was lost in action, but never gave up hope that he had survived. For many nights my grandmother would cry herself to sleep clutching Junichi’s old school uniform. Not far from our home in Wahiawa, she would pack bento and walk to the 13th Replacement Depot, where POWs were quartered on the outskirts of Schofield Army Base. Through the barbed wire fence, she would share food and inquire about Junichi with Japanese POWs. She found nothing. My dad, who was serving in the U.S. Military Intelligence Service when the battle took place, was involved with interrogations of Japanese POWs. He, too, would ask about Junichi, but nothing turned up. And in 1996 four of Junichi’s sisters went to Okinawa in search of answers, but returned empty. Discovering what happened to Junichi has been my family’s quest for 70 years.

Chizu Inoue, my contact in Okinawa for our PBS project, saw a photo of Junichi and recognized his school uniform. He had attended Okinawa Ken Ritsu Ichi Gakko (today called Shuri High School), which is reserved for academic high achievers. The school taught English, and was preparing their students for a world beyond Okinawa.

Sadly, in 1942, the Japanese Imperial Government prohibited English. All that promise held for Junichi and his fellow students were lost. Japan was at war with the U.S.

The school has a private museum and archived records of students who went into battle. Chizu made an inquiry, and Junichi’s file was there. He was killed by machine gun fire at Komesu, near the southern end of the island on June 22, 1945. The very next day, the Japanese commander, Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, committed suicide (seppuku). The Battle of Okinawa ended on June 23, 1945.

The school’s museum is also home to the Shuri High School Reunion Club, whose members are Battle of Okinawa survivors, now all in their 80s. On April 23, I had the good fortune to meet with five members — and was amazed to learn that one of them, Mr. Tomoyose-san, was Junichi’s friend.

He said, "Junichi was physically strong yet quiet and gentle. He wore aloha shirts and shorts and it was so cool. I remember that."

I was getting to know the uncle I only knew from old photos. There was no holding back tears.

I shared the information with my family when I returned home, and my Uncle Satoru, Junichi’s younger brother, said to me, "Baban (my deceased grandmother) now has closure."